Ten lords-a-leaping has got to be one of the worst presents in the whole “12 Days of Christmas” song. Worse than the milkmaids. Worse than the poultry, even– because unless you’ve managed to find ten male ballet dancers among British royalty, you’re going to end up with ten aging Englishmen leaping awkwardly around your board room.

I’m going to pause and let that mental image sink in.

Today, the kind-hearted folks at CopyPress decided to spare you the awkwardness of all those lords-a-leaping and instead give you the gift of only words worth reading, complete with some wise words worth reading from Brian Clark of Copyblogger.

Quality content is paramount to the success of any blog. No great blogs were ever forged from half-hearted posts. A reader exposed to lackluster content or passionless postings won’t be your reader for much longer.

No one champions quality content quite like Brian Clark. Take it straight from Copyblogger’s About page: “Delivering quality online content is the smartest strategy for growing an authoritative website and your business.” Brian’s crafted one of the most-read resources on Internet marketing and publishing on the Web. In fact, The Guardian even named Copyblogger one of the 50 most powerful blogs in the world– and Brian built the blog by following his own advice.

So today on this tenth day of marketing, we’ve collected some of Brian’s best advice and quotes on quality content from his interviews and articles around the Web.

Image via copyblogger.com

Featured Blogger: Brian Clark

Brian Clark is the founder and CEO of content marketing powerhouse Copyblogger Media. Copyblogger counts over 145,000 readers and is listed as one of the world’s most popular blogs by Technorati. A respected marketing expert, Brian has been highlighted and quoted in dozens of articles and books.

On writing meaningful content:

“Yes, substance matters. Your content must be more than just relevant — it’s got to be meaningful to the people you’re trying to attract. But never forget that it’s the relevant and tangible expression of that substance that creates meaning. People have to get connected with your content in the first place before they comment, share, buy, or recommend your products or services. Make your messages as real to people as possible, and you’ll find that content marketing has a payoff way bigger than the investment. Really.” — How to Make Your Writing Real

On bloggers who attract controversy:

“I think positioning yourself so that some will love you and others will ignore you or even dislike you is smart. If you stand for something strongly, that will naturally happen. And if you do that, you don’t have to purposefully be controversial. Often bloggers attract the wrong kind of audience when they purposefully try to be controversial in an opportunistic way. Stand for what you believe in and don’t back down, and things will naturally happen without being ugly.” — Interview with Copyblogger Founder, Brian Clark

On the need for openness and honesty in the blogosphere:

“Blogging is a lot like real life, which I guess is why we call this social media. If you’re not perceived as honest or worth associating with, people simply won’t bother with you.” —The Copyblogger – Brian Clark Interviewed

On the dangers of empty headlines:

“A good headline makes a promise to the reader that the content delivers. Blow that, and you’ll damage your credibility. I mean, what’s the point of writing an attention-grabbing headline if you can’t follow through? Again, the competition for attention is increasing the quality of content overall, because quality content is what works. People who try to take shortcuts will fail.” —The Copyblogger – Brian Clark Interviewed

On writing compelling copy:

“If no one reads, all is lost. And the key to getting someone to read is one sentence at a time, so compelled by that sentence that they want to read the next. In other words, how you say it is how you get there.” — Don’t Read This or the Kitty Gets It!

More from the 12 Days of Marketing

Don’t forget to join us tomorrow for the gift of Easy Integration which will feature WordPress tips from web developer, SEO and online marketer, Joost de Valk of Yoast. If you have missed any day of our 12 Days of Marketing, you can use our advent calendar to keep track of our past (and future) posts. Don’t forget to mark your calendars this Thursday for the CopyPress 12 Days of Marketing video! You won’t want to miss it!

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